Improvement in turbine wheels



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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

SILAS VALTON, OF MOORESTOVN, NEV JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN TURBINE WHEELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 152,958, dated July 14,1874; application filed May 20, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SILAs VVALTON, of Moorestown, in the county ofBurlington and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Turbine Wheels; and I do hereby declare the following` tobe a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesaid improvement, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specication, and in which- Figure l, Sheet l,is a vertical section taken through the axis of the shaft of my improvedturbine wheel, and showing` the gates closed; Fig. 2, Sheet 2, a partialplan, broken away so as to show the chutes, the buckets, and crown-plateP of the wheel, and the diaphragm and crown -plate g of the inner gate.Fig. 3, Sheet 3, is a perspective view, partly in section, of a portionof the curb, wheel, and both gates when fully open; Fig. 4, Sheet 3, asimilar view of a portion of the wheel, showing the inner gate brokenaway and partly l open 5 and Fig. 5, Sheet 3, a similar view of aletters in all the figures.

rIhis invention consists, rst, in the construction, as hereinafterdescribed, of the buckets of the wheel; secondly, in the combination,with the casing of the wheel, of a cylinder gate constructed with aflange of such width that the pressure of the water below it shallcounterbalance the weight of the gate and its appendages; thirdly, inthe combination of the beveled bottom edge of the dome or casing withthe curved surface of the adjacent gaterim, whereby, as one approachesthe other, obstructions deposited between them are displaced; fourthly,in the combination of a turbine wheel and an outer and innercylindergate -with the devices, substantially as shown and described,for raising or lowering both gates simultaneously, so as to increase ordiminish the capacity of the buckets simultaneously with that of thechutes; iifthly, in the combination of a turbine-wheel, an innercylinder-gate, which revolves with the wheel, and a stationary outercylinder-gate, with the sections thereof) may be employed, connected tothe hub by radial arms. To this crownplate or annular rim are bolted theupper and lower plates of the wheel D D, as shown in Fig. l, the lowerof which has fixed or cast on it a series of partitions, b, which extendto the upper plate, and form the curved channels or bucket-spaces B. Thecasing of the wheel consists of a dome, Q, supported on a curb, F, whosebottom flange f rests on the foundation, and supports, by means ofscrew-bolts, the spider 3, which is inclosed within a rib, o, formed onsaid iange. The adjustable step S rests on the center of the spider, andforms the lower bearing of the main shaft C, the upper part of whichturns in a bearing supported by dome Q at its summit. The upper iiange Kof curb F is indented, as shown in Fig. 3, and its upper surface,inelinin g downward outwardly, forms the bottom of the chutes. From theedge y to the vertical part of curb F extend a series of slotscorresponding in shape to the chute-guides G, as shown in Fig. 2, andthrough which the said guides move freely in a vertical direction whenthe gates are elevated or depressed. Between these slots the uppersurface of K forlns the lower surface ofl the chutes, which direct thewater to the wheel. The dome Q is secured to curb F by-means of pillarsr passingthrough the enlarged portions of guides Gr, andv its bottomedge is beveled to an edge inward to repel any obstacles that maycollect on the upper side of the gate-.rim J. rIlhe outer gate consistsof a vertical ring or cylinder, L, with a narrow outwardly-projectin gflange, d, at its top, and at its bottom an outwardly-projectin g rim,J, indented as shown in Fig. 3, and a very narrow llange or4 lip, i,projecting slightly inward under the inner gate. This flange t', and theedge of the curb underneath it, form the shutting surfaces ot' the outergate. The width of the upper flange d is proportioned so that thepressure of the water under it may counterbalance the'weight of the gateand its appendages. The ange d slides on the inside vertical surface ot'the dome Q, and is provided with suitable water-tight packing. The lowersurface of the indented rim J curves upward outwardly at the mouth ofeach. chute, and forms the upper surface thereof, as shown in Fig. 3. Aseries of guides, Gr, are fixed or cast on the under surface of the rimJ and gate L, extending from the thickened edge y to the vertical partof curb F, and projectin g down'through the curb-flange K. The enlargedportion of these guides (shown in sectionin Fig. 2) may be made hollowand open, to permit the pillars r to pass through them, and. allow thepassage of water and sediment. The `upper surface of rim J curvesdownward, as shown in Fig. 3, where it meets the guides, so as to directthe water into the chutes, and permit sediment to be carried off. Theinner gate consists of an annular trough, whose bottom is designated inthe drawing by m, and its sides by n, connected by a perforated crownplate, g, or by radial arms, to the` hub, g', which is feathered, asshown at w, to the main shaft G, so as to revolve with said shaft, whilecapable of vertical motion thereupon. The bottom' m of this trough isbetween the plates D D, the upper of which is inclosed by the sides a a,and said bottom m is made with slots corresponding to the partitions b,and not fitting water tight to said partitions, but having clearanceenough to admit water above m. A is a hand-wheel, which rotates betweenfixed bearings '1c zo, supported by the frame T, which is bolted to domeQ, or to other more elevated permanent supports. H is a vertical rod,made with a screw-thread fitting a correspondin g female screw in thehub of the wheel A, and rigidly attached to the spider Hf, from whosearms depend rods Z Z, attached to ilangeJ of the outer gate. To the hubof the spider H are secured the upper and lower bearings c e of thespherical head e ofthe rod R. This rod extends down within the tubularshaft C, and is secured to 'the hub g by a pin, h, passing through aslot in C. The rotation ofthe hand-wheel thus elevates or depresses bothgates simultaneously, and the ball-and-socket connection permits theinner gate to rotate with the water-wheel, while the movement of theouter gate is only vertical. The iioats or partitions b, which form theside walls of the buckets B, are shown in plan in Fig. 2. The impact orconcave side of each partition is curved inward to a distance somewhatgreater than the width of the chutes S, and extends thence in an obliqueline to the inner circumference of the annular plate D, forming a smoothcontinuous surface throughout its whole extent. The opposite or convexside, which at the outer circumference of the plateD forms a thin edgewith the concave side, curves inward from said edge, and on a dierentcenter from the curve of the concave side, extending to a point, theposition of which is determined by drawing to said conveX side, from theinner extremity of the adjoining partition, a straight line, 5, at rightangles to the oblique part of the concave side thereof. A recess oroffset is made at t, and the remainder of thepartition is a singleplate, p, tapering to a thin edge. This recess prevents the-dischargingcurrent from coming in contact with the curved side of the partitionafter passing the point t, so that the issuing a ri ght angle to theradius, in order to throwthe waterto the center. The sides of the chutesformed by these guides diverge a little ontwardly and endin curves c c,as shown in Fig. 2. The chutes being bounded by the guides G andsurfaces J and K, the elevation or depression of the outer gateincreases or diminishes not merely the gate area at the opening andshutting edge, but the entire capacity of the chutes. The inwardprojection i, with its shutting surface upon the curb F, ena-bles theinner ends of the guides Gr to be brought close to the curb, as shown inFi 0'. l, when the gate is shut, and near the buckets when it is open,thereby preventing acurrent round the wheel. The bottom m of the innergate forms a diaphragm in the wheel NV, and the bands or walls au, whichinclose the bucketorifices and the upper plate D, fit tightly againstand slide vertically upon the edges of said plate, forming a tightchamber in the upper part of the wheel, (except a small orice in thelower corner of the bucket to vent mud or sediment.) Tater is admittedinto this chamber through the clearance of the slots in the diaphragm,as heretofore explained. The shallow channels or grooves a., cut in thetops of the partitions b, permit water to pass from one bucket intoanother over the diaphragm. The admission of water above the diaphragmbalances the pressure from below, and keeps it equipoised at anyelevation in the bucket. The heads of bolts d' d', by which the upperplate D is fastened toy the crown-plate l, or radial arms, form stopswhich prevent the diaphragm from coming into contact with said plate,and preserve more or less space and water passage at all times in theupper part of the bucket. The lower surface of m is slightly inclined,as shown in Fig. 1,its lowest part being at the most contracted part 5of the bucket, from which it tapers slightly upward in both directions,thus forming a wedge-shaped entrance into the bucket between m and thelower plate D, and preventing a vacuum at their surfaces when the Wheelis closed.

What I cla-im as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States, is-

l. The combinatiomwith the annularplates D D, of the partitions b b,constructed and arranged substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, with the casing of the Wheel, of the gate L,constructed with a lan ge, d, of such width that the pressure of thewater below it shall counter-balance the Weight ot' the gate and itsappendages, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination of abeveled bottom edge of dome Q and the curvedupper surface of the gate-rim J operating, as one approaches the other,to displace obstructions deposited between them.

4. The combination of a turbine wheel and an outer and innercylinder-gate with the devices, substantially as shown and described, bywhich both gates are raised or lowered 'simultaneousl y, and kthecapacity of the buckets thereby increased or diminished Vsimultaneouslywith that of the chutes.

5. The combination of a turbine Wheel, an inner cylinder-gate whichrevolves with the wheel, and a stationary outer cylinder-gate with thedevices, substantially as shown and described, by which both gates areraised or lowered simultaneously, whether the lWheel be in motion or atrest.

SILAS WALTON. Witnesses JAMES QUINN,

WILLIAM PARENT.

